Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Campaign Finance Reporting Period Closes - Reports Due July 10

The second quarter closed on June 30 and reports for all candidates and committees are due July 10. In the past, it was a tradition for candidates to send staffers to personally drop off the campaign contribution and expenditure reports at the office of the Supervisor of Elections on the last day to file, where reporters and staffers from their opponents would be waiting to see how everybody did. Now, virtually all filings are done electronically through the states Electronic Filing System (EFS), taking away from the sense of drama.

The remaining filing dates and the periods they cover are listed below.

Some of the candidates whose filings will be of particular interestinclude Senate President Tom Lee and State Representative Randy Johnson. Lee alienated many in the donor community and it will interesting to see to what extent they may have shifted their donations to Johnson after the session ended. However, the real impact may not be visible until the filing due August 4.

Another candidate of interest is Representative Charlie Justice. Justice is known for his popularity among his constituents, but also for his distaste for the process of raising money.

Finally, Bill Heller, who joined the race for HD 52 late in the game, but with significant institutional backing. Now it remains to be seen how that support translated into dollars. His opponent in the primary, 2004 candidate Liz McCallum, has been running almost since the 2004 election ended, but it is expected that Heller will be able to quickly surpass her fundraising totals. If he is not well on his way, even though he has had only a month to raise money, his raison d'etre for entering the race may be questioned.